I Know He Sent This To Everyone And Its Not Specific But He Still Makes You Feel Special.

I know he sent this to everyone and its not specific but he still makes you feel special.

💜💜💜

STAYS!!!

if you've ever felt worthless or undervalued.. this is for you

Transcript: "Thank you for coming.. 'ma go to sleep now but.. you made me realise how, important it is to think of you and STAY.

And I'm just really glad and grateful.. For.. You being in, my life.

Even though time flies.. I'm so grateful that you were always there for me and my team. So thank you and.. I hope to see you soon. Goodnight"

It is so nice to see that the brotherhood hasn't left.

I want to thank the Korean military for granting the six other members leave to be here and support the Eldest brother.

I'm so unbelievably happy right now!💜💜💜

It's so good to see them all together again, I'm gonna cry!😭💜

Welcome Home Jin, we've missed you!💜

this is pretty much all ARMY right now 💜💜💜

Jin: uh, Y/n? It's been almost two hours, can you maybe let me go-?

Y/n, hugging him tighter: no

This is an interesting read. To be transparent, I didn’t know anything about the Thai military until this read. 💜💜💜

Thai Military Service & Thai BL

Remember, Thailand is a monarchy meets military regime. 

Like in the USA, all Thai men must register for the draft at age 18. Unlike the USA (where selective service must be activated), conscription by lottery then occurs at age 21. 

Conscription was introduced in Thailand in 1905. According to the Constitution of the Kingdom, serving in the armed forces is a national duty of all Thai citizens. In practice, only males over the age of 21 who have not gone through reserve training are subject to conscription.

From wikipedia

Many high schools coordinate military reserve training as part of their curriculum (it’s run by the military), so in essences it’s possible to partly get out of mandatory service. (This seems to be soemthing wealthy kids manage more than poorer kids.) Colloquially called “Ror Dor” it is operated mainly as a 3 year long after school program starting age 15. If you are in uni you’re exempt from conscription until you graduate. 

In Make it Right 2 remember Tee having his head shaved in the cafe scene in the second to last episode? 

That was because the actor (Boom Krittapak) at the time had his 2nd year Ror Dor away camp training regime (age 16) so they rolled it into the script. 

Note it’s mentioned in the scene that Fuse would have to shave his head soon as well? In the series they are the same age, in reality Boom is several years younger than Peak, who presumably had already been through the shaved-head portion of Ror Dor. 

“Only those young men currently at university, or those who have completed the 3 year Reserve Officers Training Corps programme whilst at school, are exempt from the draft.” source 

We know from publicly report schools and wealth demos of many Thai BL actors (they put education institutions in their bios) that they often attended private school and probably went through Ror Dor. 

Captain as Noh in Love Sick, for example, is exactly the age, education, and wealth level to have been in Ror Dor at the time of filming. In the series, his hair is explained away as a personal choice, but in reality it was most likely because he had done, did do, or would be doing away camp for reserve training just before or during filming. 

It’s also possible that Thai producers cast actors in younger roles so as to avoid the possibility of losing actors mid series to the lottery. 

For the lottery, a man must return to his home district in April of the year in which he turn 21 for the selection process, which is done in person, in public, with age-mates (yes, including the physical exam). If he volunteers, he serves 1 year, if he draws the red card at the lottery, he serves 2 years. 

Every year, about 100,000 personnel are recruited. (source) 

The lottery is quite an event in most Thai communities. The public way it is conducted adds to a sense of occasion. There’s a ton of formality and speeches about civic duty but it’s also raucous, full of cat calls, dramatic behavior, and bawdy jokes. It’s almost, dare I say it, celebratory? 

There is a YouTube video of Bambam from K-Pop giants GOT7 going through the process AS AN IDOL. 

He had to return from South Korea to Thailand to do so. It’s kinda crazy to watch but it gives you an idea of what the lottery is like (a bit more excited than usual because of his presence and because this is a quazi-propaganda vid). His entire zone was released because they had already satisfied their quota via volunteers. 

If you are exempted from service for Ror Dor, medical or kathoey* reasons you are given a certificate which you must present at most job hirings etc… after age 21. However, all black card, red card, and Ror Dor graduates remain on the registry for the draft (like in the USA). 

If the lottery selects you for military service (the red card) active duty will likely involve the ongoing (10+ years) civil unrest in the South of Thailand. Service may also/instead involve manual labour on military bases, irrigation work, or assisting in humanitarian duties. Since Thailand is not a member of NATO, conscripts are rarely involved in foreign conflicts or see overseas action. They receive a fixed monthly salary based on Thailand’s minimum wage. 

Here’s a video of a Thai man talking (in English) about the process. 

Thai BL in general avoids talking about or depicting the lottery or military service. Probably for political reasons. (They also never reference the royal family.) 

I would be remiss if I did not add that Thailand has been accused of various human rights violations with regards to conscripts. 

“Human rights groups have documented cases of young men allegedly killed by their peers or senior officers through brutal hazing rituals, corporal punishment and even torture.” (source) 

Generally speaking, exposés on the military in Thailand are dangerous for all those involved and difficult to find as a result. Articles I’ve found tend to be written by those who are not Thai citizens and use coded language to refer to their sources. 

South Korea, on the other hand, has several BLs that have dealt with military service openly, most notably, 2009′s Just Friends? and Strongberry’s 2021 2 part mini A First Love Story both of which are really good and higher heat than normal for South Korea.

But military service is different in South Korea. It’s mandatory for every male - as anyone in the K-pop world knows and can tell you about at length. 

Taiwan, of course, has historical gay drama Your Name Engraved Herein which features two boys falling in love, in part inside the military. 

* One final note on the Thai lottery 

Kathoey (the Thai term, often translated as ladyboy or 3rd gender) are usually exempted from conscription. It is implied (although I don’t know how often it is actually done) that there are some who pretend to be kathoey on lottery day so as to cheat the draft. However, since there is a physical medical exam as part of the process, exemption probably actually rides (again implication) on at least top surgery if not full gender reassignment. 

(source)

American Mate (10) - A Date in the Right Direction

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K-pop lover, mostly BTS, StayKids, Ateez, ZeroBaseOne, & Astro.

In honor of Kim Seokjin's return from the military, my Jin-centric Chapter 10 is live for those with a Patreon Membership. This chapter is out sooner than I was expecting, but I wanted to make sure to honor the eldest member.

I hope you enjoy it, my dearest readers.

This chapter is a total of 11,976 words long. Read below for a little taste! 💜💜💜

The next morning is a complete departure from your usual routine. You had meticulously set your alarm for 7:30 am, anticipating a quick shower would suffice before your medical appointment. But fate had other plans in store for you.

Shuffling, giggling, and the hushed “Quiet Kookie” woke you. Wait… is that water running? What time… what?

Stretching as you blink your eyes, you end up face to face with Jungkook, “Ah! Jungkook! What are you doing?”

“Good morning, my sweets,” the bunny smiled brightly with his big eyes. No care in the world that he just spooked you await.

Still hearing movement, you take a look around. Jungkook is kneeling on the bed but not inside your fort. Yoongi has popped his head out of your bathroom, and Seokjin stands at the entry door with a tray.

“Good morning, Jungkook, Seokjin, Yoongi. What time is it?’ rubbing your eyes and stretching again. Man, that was the deepest sleep you have gotten in a long time. 

Each Alpha wants to coo at your cute little stretches, which are maddeningly hidden by Taehyung’s blanket. 

Seokjin is the first to snap out of watching you, “It’s almost 7 am, dear. I have a light breakfast, and Yoongi is drawing a bath for you. We want to make sure you're comfortable and ready for your day.

Looking at Seokjin with a bit of a question furrowing your brow. Yoongi retreats into the bathroom now that he sees you are not upset at the intrusion

 “Sweets, we heard your doctor’s appointment was this morning. I hate doctor’s appointments, and we thought it might be uncomfortable for you, too.” Jungkook says while he giggles at your expression.

“Thank you, Alphas. I was going to try a shower today, but a bath sounds good,” you say. A smile blooms on your face at the knowledge of the Alphas trying to make your day good.

“Princess, the bath is ready. I used the Cassia and Cherry scented bath bomb for you today. I set a towel to the side for you like last time. When you are done, please call for any of us to help dry your hair, okay?” asks Yoongi as he heads toward the door.

“Sure thing, Yoongi. Thank you again.” With another smile, Yoongi looks pointedly at the youngest packmate before leaving to get ready, presumably.

“Jin, is breakfast something that will get cold, or can I eat it after the bath?” you ask. Meanwhile, you note that Jungkook has scooted closer to you but still not close enough to touch you or your fort. 

“It’s a simple breakfast: just some fruits and a bagel with cream cheese,” his eyes widened. He looked at the tray and then back at you. “You do like fruit, bagels, and cream cheese, right?”

Giggling, you kick out of the blankets and start scooting toward him. “Who doesn’t like those? They would be crazy not to like those!” 

You look at the array of foods on the tray, “Thank you, Jin. It looks good. Oh, you got mangos, my favorite!” 

You happily take a large bite of the slice and close your eyes to enjoy the burst of flavor. Seokjin watches you eat intensely, and Jungkook approaches your side.

Opening your eyes, you look back at the bunny, asking, “Can you have mangos?” At his nodding, you offer him to take the rest of the mango in your hand. 

Leaning forward, Jungkook eats the mango from your hand. His lips barely touch your fingertips, temporarily short-circuiting you. 

You immediately drop your hand and look back at Seokjin, only to notice he is watching Jungkook eat. You feel like you are getting too warm over witnessing something that should be between mates only.

“Umm... I am gonna go take that bath now,” you say softly. 

Bolting into the walk-in closet, you look for something comfortable and yours to wear today. You pull out a pair of leggings, a sports bra, a crisscross tank, and a non-thousand-dollar sweater.

When you leave the closet, you notice that the tray has been left at the end of the bed, and the two remaining Alphas have left the room. 

Softly, you bang your head on the door frame and mumble, “Good job, y/n. Way to keep professionalism.”

I am so excited!!!! 💜💜💜